Senate confirmation of class rep appointments gets heated

The Senate planned to review three appointments in their meeting. The first was the appointment of Jacob Steingart ’25G to the position of Graduate Representative on the Executive Board. When questioned by the Senate on how he would effectively represent graduate students, Steingart asserted that he was involved amongst the other graduate students and previously served on the Graduate Council. He emphasized he would essentially be doing the same job with the same responsibilities, simply with “a different placard.”

Discussion initially revolved around whether Steingart would be an effective representative of the graduate student body. Graduate Senator Ria Massoni ’24, ’25G raised concerns that Steingart was disconnected from the graduate student population. She added that, “to me it sounds like he hasn’t talked to any grad students, doesn’t have plans to talk to any grads, and plans to rely on grad council to come to him with issues.” Massoni also called attention to Steingart’s stated motivation for stepping into the role was to help President of the Union Catherine Philipps ’24, ’25G because she asked him to.

However, the talk around Steingart’s qualifications quickly turned into a debate on systemic and aggregate issues surrounding the nature of representation within student government. Vice Grand Marshal Timothy Miles ’25G spoke against the bureaucratic and political shuffling of people within roles, using the Stamp Act of 1965 to exemplify how lack of representation within governing bodies goes against the United States’ founding principles.

In a move to evaluate Steingart’s representative ability, Senator Edward Piontek ’26 posed a question to the Senate’s graduate students. “I am not a grad student, I would never claim to be a grad student,” Piontek wisely prefaced before asking “Grad students, would you say this person represents you?” To this, Miles responded in the affirmative.

Steingart failed to be confirmed for the position after a roll-call vote. The necessary two-thirds majority was missed by a wide margin, with 3 in favor, 11 against, and 6 abstaining.

The next appointment to be reviewed and deliberated on was that of Kate Goldstein ’26 for Class of 2026 Representative on the E-Board. Goldstein currently serves on the E-Board as a Club and Organization Representative. The Union Constitution requires the E-Board to have one representative from each of the undergraduate and graduate classes. According to Philipps, shifting Goldstein to a class-restricted role would free up her position and allow for non-voting members to potentially be voted in as Club and Organization representatives. Philipps decided on this course of action to ensure the E-Board is able to meet quorum requirements down the line.

During discussion, Senator Griffin Oliver ’27 asserted that there was a relationship between the decline of the Roman Republic and the dilution of the strength and weight of governmental roles. The 36-minute discussion that followed resulted in Goldstein failing to be confirmed for the Class of 2026 Representative on the Executive Board by a vote of 5-8-6.

Scott Nwosu ’25 was the third and final appointment of the evening, nominated for the Class of 2025 Representative. When asked a question on what the approximate Union budget was, Nwosu differentiated himself by answering $4.1 million instead of $4 million like Steingart and Goldstein had when posed the same question. Nwosu was quickly confirmed with a vote of, 17-0-2.

The fourth and final motion of the evening was to lower the graduate portion of the Union Activity Fee by $3. Earlier in the meeting, Chair of the Graduate Council Diyanko Bhowmik ’25G announced that the Grad Council had passed a motion to increase the Graduate Class dues to $15 from $12. The additional funds paid by Graduate Students would be allocated to an External Graduate Grant (EGG), the use of which would be deliberated and governed by the Grad Council.

During the Enrollment Inquiry Committee’s Report, Chair Tiburon Benavides ’G and Diyanko Bhowmik ’G both displayed signs that read “Since 2016, RPI grads have overpaid for Union Clubs by at least $60,000.” Since the Union is unable to fund any organization that explicitly restricts students based on their class year, a strictly graduate-only club cannot have Union funding.

As for why graduate students don’t simply join Union funded clubs, Massoni stated that graduate students often felt “unwelcome” in many clubs and organizations that consist of many undergrad students, whether it be due to age differences and experiences.

In order to allocate more money towards graduate-student-specific activities, the Graduate Student Dues were raised by $3. The extra $3 from each student would be allocated to the EGG, which would pay for graduate student activities, and the Union Activity Fee for graduate students would decrease by $3, so that grad students wouldn’t pay any extra money.

Treasurer Colette Minor ’26 emphasized that there were no clubs strictly for undergraduate students and that it would still be possible to have clubs with a heavier emphasis on the graduate demographic without explicitly restricting undergraduate students. Oliver said that the timing of the motion might lead to it being seen as a “declaration of war.”

Massoni emphasized that while the structure of the budgeting may appear “strange,” it would not force undergraduates to pay for graduate-only activities. The money would only be coming from graduate students. The motion was tabled to be discussed in the following week by a vote of 10-7-0.

In other news, the Academic Affairs Committee Chairperson Griffin Oliver ’27 announced that the Add/Drop Report was “close to being done,” and hoped for it to be completed quite soon. Facilities and Services Committee Chairperson Dominick Celeste ’25 also announced this year’s annual Accessibility Walk would take place the week of February 3.

This meeting was held on January 14, 2025. The next Student Senate meeting will be on Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 at 7 pm in the Shelnutt Gallery.